Sinclair transforms Myrtle Beach offense into two-way threat
Almost single-handedly, Brandon Sinclair changed his offense’s personality.
Through each of Mickey Wilson’s first four seasons as Myrtle Beach’s head coach and during most of his tenure as the team’s offensive coordinator before that, the Seahawks were about as pass-happy is got. Behind the likes of Everett Golson and Mitch Campbell and C.J. Cooper and Tyler Keane, no tailback got a work load equal to Wilson’s quarterbacks.
That is, until Sinclair came around.
“I told him when he was in eighth and ninth grade was that our goal was to get the ball in the best player’s hands. He was going to get his touches,” Wilson said. “… To do what he’s done in a passing offense makes it that much more impressive.”
Sinclair, the Toast of the Coast Offensive Player of the Year, gave Wilson four years of the best running back production the school has ever known. He finished with 5,341 rushing yards – the first Grand Strand player to eclipse 5,000 yards since Conway’s Bobby Wallace (2001-2004). He also finished with 6,252 total yards and 74 touchdowns, including 70 on the ground.
The 5-foot-10, 191-pounder led the team in rushing all four seasons of his varsity career, and at times he was the glue that held Myrtle Beach’s high-powered offense together. Opposing defenses couldn’t focus solely on quarterback Drayton Arnold or any of his high-value targets during the last three seasons, one that included a 2013 state championship and a run to the Class AAA Lower State finals this fall.
In his final go-around, Sinclair ran for 1,826 yards and 28 touchdowns and had his best year receiving, catching 329 yards worth of passes that included another touchdown. His career numbers were a source of pride, but they also came fairly naturally.
“It just came while I was having fun. It wasn’t like I was working and forced to,” Sinclair said. “It takes a lot for Coach Wilson to rely on someone like that. I feel honored in a way.”
In total, Sinclair had 955 carries while wearing a Myrtle Beach uniform. What he did with the Seahawks helped him earn college scholarship opportunities to a number of schools, and he ultimately verbally committed to Old Dominion.
His coach already believes he’s a college-ready tailback ready to perform there, too. And it’s not just because what he’s done physically.
“The neat thing about Brandon from my standpoint, I’ve seen him really grow up and become a super leader on our team,” Wilson said. “I wouldn’t have expected that as a ninth- and 10th-grader. He just didn’t say a lot as a player. This season, he became our main leader. He was a guy who was tough as nails, but also our vocal leader keeping everyone in line and pushing everyone toward our goals.”
Wilson said he probably won’t grasp how much he’s depended upon Sinclair until spring practice and then the 2016 season. Someone else is responsible for carrying the football and – more likely than not – the Seahawks return to some of their old ways on offense.
And although Sinclair’s verbal leadership also grew, his physical abilities made even more noise.
“I never really said anything directly to him,” Sinclair said. “I knew if I went to practice and went to the weight room, we could have positive results handing me the ball.”
Ian Guerin: ian@ianguerin.com, @iguerin
Editor’s note
This is the final installment of a nine-day series honoring the top fall high school athletes along the Grand Strand.
The Team
Offensive Player of the Year
Brandon Sinclair
School: Myrtle Beach
Position: Running back
Class: Senior
Highlights: North-South All-Star selection and Region VII-AAA Player of the Year stretched his lead in multiple school career records by adding 1,826 yards and 28 touchdowns in 13 games during his senior season.
Drayton Arnold
School: Myrtle Beach
Position: Quarterback
Class: Senior
Highlights: Finished his acclaimed career at Myrtle Beach with 103 touchdown passes after adding 35 this fall to go along with an area-best 3,140 passing yards.
Jarvis Brown
School: Georgetown
Position: Quarterback
Class: Senior
Highlights: Wrapped up his record-setting career with a senior season that included 2,569 yards and 26 touchdowns passing and another 660 yards and 10 scores rushing.
Peyton Derrick
School: Conway
Position: Quarterback
Class: Junior
Highlights: Set multiple Conway single-season records by throwing for 2,650 yards and 30 touchdowns while completing 183 passes for the Region VI-AAAA runner-up Tigers.
Dyverse Simmons
School: Carolina Forest
Position: Running back
Class: Junior
Highlights: Area’s leading rusher finished with 2,002 yards and 17 touchdowns, becoming the first Grand Strand tailback to eclipse 2,000 yards in more than a decade.
Bryan Edwards
School: Conway
Position: Receiver
Class: Senior
Highlights: U.S. Army All-American and Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas selection caught 53 passes for 969 yards and nine touchdowns in just nine games before suffering a knee injury.
Elijah Rice
School: Myrtle Beach
Position: Receiver
Class: Senior
Highlights: In first and only year with the Seahawks, led the area with 1,294 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns while finishing with 1,776 all-purpose yards and an additional four scores.
Jacob Springs
School: Green Sea Floyds
Position: Offensive lineman
Class: Junior
Highlights: Led Trojans’ revamped running game to an average of 258 yards per game on the ground and set numerous program records while grading out at 87 percent.
Angel Perez
School: Carolina Forest
Position: Offensive lineman
Class: Senior
Highlights: Behind the big tackle, the Panthers accumulated nearly 4,500 yards of total offense and averaged 370 yards per game and earned school’s first trip to the Class AAAA playoffs.
Gunner Britton
School: Conway
Position: Offensive lineman
Class: Sophomore
Highlights: Helped Tigers offense average 391 yards per game by grading out at 85 percent, recording 22 knock-down blocks and allowing only two sacks in 12 games.
Aaron Foster
School: St. James
Position: Offensive lineman
Class: Senior
Highlights: First-team All-Region VII-AAA selection led improved Sharks offense to more points and yards, as well as team’s first winning season and first playoff victory in school history.
Charles Ouverson
School: St. James
Position: Kicker
Class: Senior
Highlights: Region VII-AAA Specialist of the Year was 30-of-35 on extra points and connected on eight field goals, including a school-record 52-yarder and a 48-yarder.
Coach of the Year
Robby Brown
School: St. James
Highlights: The second-year Sharks coach led St. James to its first winning season in school history and its first-ever playoff victory. Defending Coach of the Year Bradley Adams echoed the sentiments of nearly every one of Brown’s peers. “You look at what St. James did. They shouldn’t even be where they are. They just have a good football coach.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Sinclair transforms Myrtle Beach offense into two-way threat."